Jesus’ Gifts of Leaders to His Church

God uses His men to teach us so that we can carry out the work of the ministry for Him!

March 11, 2022

"And He gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;  For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the Body of Christ.

Ephesians 4:11-12

(This blog is longer than usual, but I believe it is worth the read.  We are looking at the leaders of the Church that Jesus has set up.  I hope the definitions and statements from other men of God will be helpful.  Reading time, approximately 10 minutes.)

 

“And He gave some apostles.”
Literally, “He himself gave,” which in the context of verses 8-10, point us to Jesus Christ as the one “giving” here.  So that the new believer would not feel like an “orphan” (John 14:18[1]), Jesus sent us the Holy Spirit to indwell us.  And to help the believers along in their growth and daily living for the Lord, He gave us His Church (Acts 2).

“He established several offices in His Church; furnished these with the proper officers; and, to qualify them for their work, gave them the proper gift” [2] (Clarke – ACC).

These leaders were given to help us learn how to love and serve Jesus Christ.  The first leaders mentioned are His apostles.

Before the Church was birthed during the first century, Jesus personally trained His men to be the apostles.  They were men who knew Jesus and traveled, lived with, and served with Him personally.  They were eyewitnesses of our Lord’s ministry, death, burial, and resurrection.  Jesus sent them out as His special ambassadors to the world.

“Christ’s ministers are gifts to His people.…  The distinguishing features of an apostle were, a commission directly from Christ: being a witness of the resurrection: special inspiration: supreme authority: accrediting by miracles: unlimited commission to preach and to found churches” [3] (Vincent).

Apostles – Refers to those who are sent out by Christ to speak and act with special authority” [4] (FSB).

“Apostles, then, were those who carried the gospel message with God’s authority.  “Apostle” means “one sent as an authoritative delegate” [5] (BKC).

“Apostles are sent by God to pioneer church growth in new areas” [6] (TBG).

“The term apostles primarily refers to people sent with a divine mission or task.  They also served as spokesmen for God, bringing new revelation and understanding to the church” [7] (CSB).

As the first century Church grew and became well established, and the canon of the scriptures was closed, these NT apostles were no longer necessary for the church.

 

“And some, prophets.”
The prophets were God’s special “preachers.”  They were under the direct influence of the Holy Spirit as they proclaimed God’s message to people.

Prophets – “Refers to those who are designated by God to speak on His behalf” [8] (FSB).

“Prophets speak God’s Word in a direct and challenging way to particular situations” [9] (TBG).

Prophets revealed God’s will to believers for the present (forth-telling) and predicted the future (fore-telling).  All apostles were prophets, but not all prophets were apostles” [10] (CSB).

“New Testament prophets were gifts to the church to provide edification, exhortation, and comfort (1 Corinthians 14:3).  They probably revealed God’s will to the church when the biblical canon was incomplete.  Since the apostles and prophets were foundational, they did not exist after the first generation of believers” [11] (BKC).

 

“And some, evangelists.”
The evangelists were dedicated to the Gospel of Jesus Christ and its proclamation to the world.

“Evangelists, who are specifically gifted to preach the good news of salvation in Jesus Christ” [12] (EWC).

“Evangelists were itinerant preachers like our missionaries, as Philip the deacon (Acts 21:8); as contrasted with stationary “pastors and teachers” (2 Timothy 4:5)” [13] (JFB).

Evangelists.  Traveling missionaries” [14] (Vincent).

Evangelists – Refers to those who proclaim the truth of the gospel and call others to live by Jesus’ standards (compare Acts 21:8; 2 Timothy 4:5)” [15] (FSB).

Evangelists were those engaged in spreading the gospel, similar to present-day missionaries” [16] (BKC).

“Evangelists share the gospel clearly so that people can understand and come to faith in Christ” [17] (TBG).

Evangelists were gifted to spread the gospel and plant churches.  Evangelists proclaimed the good news in word and deed and instructed others in evangelism” [18] (CSB).

 

“And some, pastors and teachers.”
The Greek text combines these two functions into one office, the pastor-teacher.

“Teaching is an essential part of the pastoral ministry; it is appropriate, therefore, that the two terms, pastors and teachers, should be joined together to denote one order of ministry” [19] (Bruce – EWC).

“The two belong together.  No man is fit to be a pastor who cannot also teach, and the teacher needs the knowledge which pastoral experience gives” [20] (Vincent).

The word pastor is from the Greek word that means “shepherd.”  Caring for the “flock” is intended by this Bible term.  The pastor cares for the needs of people.  The word teacher indicates the pastor’s ability to “rightly divide the word of truth” and teach it to the “flock.”

Teachers – Indicates those who faithfully pass on the teachings of Christ and the apostles, especially through explaining or applying Scripture (compare Titus 2:1)” [21] (FSB).

“Teachers were concerned with passing on the church’s revealed teachings (1Corinthians 15:3–4) rather than bringing new inspirational insights like the prophets.  Teachers are indispensable for building up the church and are necessary to enable believers to distinguish false doctrine from true teaching” [22] (CSB).

Pastors and Teachers,

“More likely, they refer to two characteristics of the same person who is pastoring believers (by comforting and guiding) while at the same time instructing them in God’s ways (overseers or elders are to be able to teach; 1 Timothy 3:2; Titus 1:9)” [23] (BKC).

“Pastors and teachers are able to care for and teach local congregations” [24] (TBG).

Thank God for dedicated and caring pastors, who, week after week, spend the time and incredible effort mining in the Word to share with the flock faithfully.  They love and attend to the needs of the believers in their local churches.

 

Why?  Why did Jesus Christ give these different officers to His Church?
“For the perfecting of the saints.”
The word “perfecting” is vital to this context.  This word does not mean that each believer is “perfect” in the sense that they never sin or make any mistakes.  To believe that is poor doctrine indeed!  Believers, we look forward to that wonderful day when we see Christ!  We then will be as He is, and for one thing, that is without sin.  Our days of struggling with sin will be but a memory then (1 John 3:2).

The ancient word “perfecting” that Paul used here means “complete furnishing, equipping” [25] (TGD).  It also has been defined as “a perfectly adjusted adaptation; complete qualification for a specific purpose” [26] (MCG).

“The Greek implies correcting in all that is deficient, instructing and completing in number and all parts” [27] (JFB).

“The purpose of these gifts of leadership is also clear.  It is that saints (God’s people) might be equipped for the work of ministry (service) so that the body of Christ would be built up (expanded and strengthened)” [28] (EWC).

God has given every believer gifts to serve the Body of Christ best and be beneficial to their local churches.

 

“For the work of the ministry.”
Note here that the pastor-teachers are training, equipping each believer in their flock.  They teach so that the believers are entirely qualified for specific purposes in the Body.  So doesn’t this make sense?  Our pastors are training us so that we believers might carry on the work of the ministry!  For far too long, many in our churches have had the mistaken idea that the pastor does it all.  He carries the ministry, and believers only sit back as spectators, basically doing nothing.  They do not participate, grow, or serve.  They are just sitting, soaking, and souring!

Those in our churches with the “consumer mindset” totally miss the point of why we have churches and what they are for.  They are spectators of the worst sort, for they are in it only for themselves, what they can get out of it!  They don’t want Jesus, the Savior of the Bible, who forgives sins and changes lives.  They want a user-friendly watered-down Savior that can be an add-on to everything else in their busy, selfish lives.  Their lives are not about Jesus but about themselves and what they want.  Sadly, this type of “Christian” does not measure up to the Bible teaching of salvation.  The “what’s in it for me Christian” is not genuinely born-again, although they think they are.

Our pastors are responsible for our training.  They instruct us by teaching us the Word and even our discipleship.  But as a church grows in number, the pastor must oversee (delegate) our discipleship to other godly men and women so that the Body keeps growing and being equipped for service.

Speaking to the pastor’s work –

“Their duty is to perfect, that is, to adjust the saints for the work of ministry, that they may contribute to the building up of the Church.  A minister is a failure if he does all the work himself.  The people must all be at work — in the quarries, or shaping the stones, or fitting them into their places” [29] (CB).

Every believer is to be involved in ministry!

 

“For the edifying of the body of Christ.”
Our pastors are “equipping the saints for the work of the ministry” to what end?

The church of Jesus Christ is a living organism, and when the parts of the Body, each believer, do what they are equipped to do, the result is, the Body of Christ is edified!

“Gifted people (Ephesians 4:11) are to minister the Word to others so that they, in turn, are readied to get involved in ministering to others (cf. 2 Timothy 2:2).  The goal of all this is to build up or edify the body of Christ (cf. Ephesians 4:16).  This shows that all saints and not just a few leaders should be involved in the “ministry.”  All saints are gifted (v. 7) to serve others spiritually” [30] (BKC).

 

Quote:  “The primary purpose of the Church isn’t to convert sinners to Christianity, but to perfect (complete and mature) the saints for the ministry and edification of the Body” [31] (Smith – EWC).

 

 

 

[1] The word “comfortless” in this verse is the Greek term for “orphans” (orphanos).  “Bereaved, desolate” (Mounce).  MCGMounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary, the electronic version in eSword.
[2] ACC – Adam Clarke.  Adam Clarke’s Commentary on the Bible, the electronic version in eSword.
[3] Marvin Richardson Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament, vol. 3 (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1887), 389–390.
[4] FSB, John D. Barry, Douglas Mangum, Derek R. Brown, et al., Faithlife Study Bible (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2012, 2016), Eph 4:11–12.
[5] BKC, Harold W. Hoehner, “Ephesians,” in The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures, ed.  J. F. Walvoord and R. B. Zuck, vol. 2 (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1985), 634–635.
“The apostles include the Twelve, who had the office of apostleship by virtue of being with Christ (Acts 1:21–22) and having been appointed by Him (which would also include Paul; 1 Corinthians 15:8–9; Galatians 1:1; 2:6–9).  But “apostles” also included others who were recognized as apostles, such as James (1 Corinthians 15:7; Galatians 1:19), Barnabas (Acts 14:4, 14; 1 Corinthians 9:6), Andronicus and Junias (Romans 16:7), possibly Silas and Timothy (1 Thessalonians 1:1; 2:7), and Apollos (1 Corinthians 4:6, 9).  This latter group had the gift of apostleship but not the apostolic “office” as did the Twelve and Paul” (BKC).  The emphasis is mine.
[6] TBG, Andrew Knowles, The Bible Guide, 1st Augsburg books ed. (Minneapolis, MN: Augsburg, 2001), 618.
[7] CSB, Daniel B. Wallace, “Perseverance of the Saints,” in CSB Study Bible: Notes, ed.  Edwin A. Blum and Trevin Wax (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2017), 1876.
[8] FSB, ibid.
[9] TBG, ibid.
[10] CSB, ibid.
[11] BKC, ibid.
[12] EWC – David Guzik.  Enduring Word Commentary, the electronic version in eSword.
[13] JFB, Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset, and David Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible, vol. 2 (Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1997), 350.
[14] M. R. Vincent, ibid.
[15] FSB, ibid.
[16] BKC, ibid.
[17] TBG, ibid.
[18] CSB, ibid.
[19] Bruce’s quote is borrowed from EWC, ibid.
[20] M. R. Vincent, ibid.
[21] FSB, ibid.
[22] CSB, ibid.
[23] BKC, ibid.
[24] TBG, ibid.
[25] TGD – J.H. Thayer.  Thayer’s Greek Definitions, the electronic version in eSword.
[26] MCGMounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary, the electronic version in eSword.
[27] JFB, ibid.
[28] EWC – ibid.
[29] CBCambridge Bible, the electronic Bible notes in eSword.  The emphasis is mine.
[30] BKC, ibid.
[31] EWC, ibid.